- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Canada; First Edition edition (May 18 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307398501
- ISBN-13: 978-0307398505
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#1,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #26 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Specific Groups > Women
- #54 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Memoirs
- #94 in Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Here is the story of a young African woman, born into Islam, who was given every possible occasion to feel grievance, resentment and humiliation yet who has employed her own life as an example of internationalism, tolerance, multiculturalism and the redemption of others. Her humor and irony and fortitude constitute the finest counterpoint to the surly cult of death that presses itself against us. For me, the three most beautiful words in the emerging language of secular resistance to tyranny are Ayaan Hirsi Ali.”
— Christopher Hitchens
“There is more wisdom and compassion in this book than can be found in most university libraries — and surely more than has been published in the Muslim world since the time of the Prophet. I can think of no one who better exemplifies the hard-won gains of the Enlightenment or who can speak more effectively in their defense, than Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Nomad is both a moving account of her personal journey out of bondage, and [a] trumpet blast to awaken Westerners at all points along the political spectrum: there is a war of ideas that must be waged and won in the Muslim world, and we misunderstand the true tenets of Islam at our peril. Hirsi Ali’s voice and example are simply indispensable. There is no one like her — and we need thousands like her.”
— Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation
“This moving account by a remarkably brave woman of her personal journey from the pre-modern mindset of nomadic Somali society to a modern Western one provides a searing indictment of the cult of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘diversity’ which are disabling other Muslims in the West from making a similar transition, and making their youth turn to radical Islam and becoming ‘jihadis.’ More than many academic tomes this personal memoir provides a cogent account of how and why Islam poses the gravest threat to Western liberal societies.”
— Deepak Lal, author of In Praise of Empires
“A brilliant introduction to the dynamics of Muslim families in the West. . . . Hirsi Ali is a compelling writer who is neither strident nor shrill. Her life story is a triumph of the human spirit.”
— Margaret Wente, The Globe and Mail
“Hirsi Ali is a gifted storyteller, and Nomad’s vignettes are precise and evocative and they often underscore strong socio-political arguments.”
— Winnipeg Free Press
“Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is still only in her later 30s, has already ensured her place in history and is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable people in the world.”
— Theodore Dalrymple, The Globe and Mail
“If Infidel was her wake-up call to the West, Nomad is her battle cry. . . . It would be a mistake to dismiss Hirsi Ali’s passionately argued ideas.”
— Elle (US)
“I am on Hirsi Ali’s side. . . Nomad circles round and round the incidents, people and themes of her life. . . . She writes movingly about her [family]. . . . Her explicit and insistent belief — that Islamic societies enforce the closing of the Muslim mind to the detriment of living standards, personal development and peace — is her driving force.”
— John Lloyd, Financial Times
“Here is the story of a young African woman, born into Islam, who was given every possible occasion to feel grievance, resentment and humiliation yet who has employed her own life as an example of internationalism, tolerance, multiculturalism and the redemption of others. Her humor and irony and fortitude constitute the finest counterpoint to the surly cult of death that presses itself against us. For me, the three most beautiful words in the emerging language of secular resistance to tyranny are Ayaan Hirsi Ali.”
— Christopher Hitchens
“There is more wisdom and compassion in this book than can be found in most university libraries — and surely more than has been published in the Muslim world since the time of the Prophet. I can think of no one who better exemplifies the hard-won gains of the Enlightenment or who can speak more effectively in their defense, than Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Nomad is both a moving account of her personal journey out of bondage, and [a] trumpet blast to awaken Westerners at all points along the political spectrum: there is a war of ideas that must be waged and won in the Muslim world, and we misunderstand the true tenets of Islam at our peril. Hirsi Ali’s voice and example are simply indispensable. There is no one like her — and we need thousands like her.”
— Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation
“This moving account by a remarkably brave woman of her personal journey from the pre-modern mindset of nomadic Somali society to a modern Western one provides a searing indictment of the cult of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘diversity’ which are disabling other Muslims in the West from making a similar transition, and making their youth turn to radical Islam and becoming ‘jihadis.’ More than many academic tomes this personal memoir provides a cogent account of how and why Islam poses the gravest threat to Western liberal societies.”
— Deepak Lal, author of In Praise of Empires
“A brilliant introduction to the dynamics of Muslim families in the West. . . . Hirsi Ali is a compelling writer who is neither strident nor shrill. Her life story is a triumph of the human spirit.”
— Margaret Wente, The Globe and Mail
“Hirsi Ali is a gifted storyteller, and Nomad’s vignettes are precise and evocative and they often underscore strong socio-political arguments.”
— Winnipeg Free Press
“Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is still only in her later 30s, has already ensured her place in history and is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable people in the world.”
— Theodore Dalrymple, The Globe and Mail
“If Infidel was her wake-up call to the West, Nomad is her battle cry. . . . It would be a mistake to dismiss Hirsi Ali’s passionately argued ideas.”
— Elle (US)
“I am on Hirsi Ali’s side. . . Nomad circles round and round the incidents, people and themes of her life. . . . She writes movingly about her [family]. . . . Her explicit and insistent belief — that Islamic societies enforce the closing of the Muslim mind to the detriment of living standards, personal development and peace — is her driving force.”
— John Lloyd, Financial Times
Product Description
In her powerful new memoir, the #1 bestselling author of Infidel tells the stirring story of her search for a new life as she tries to reconcile her Islamic past with her passionate adherence to democracy and Western values. A unique blend of personal narrative and reportage, moving, engaging, wryly funny at times, Nomad gives us an inside view of her battle for equality in the face of considerable odds.
Ayaan captured the world's attention with Infidel, the eye-opening memoir of her childhood in Africa and Saudi Arabia, and her escape to Holland en route to a forced marriage in Canada. Nomad is the story of what happened after the Dutch director with whom she made a documentary about the domestic abuse of Muslim women was murdered by a radical Islamist and death threats forced her into hiding; of her bid to start a new life in America; of her renewed contact with her family on her father's death; and of her attempts to live by her adopted principles. With deep understanding, and through vivid anecdotes, and observations of people, cultures, and the political debacles that are engulfing the world, she takes us with her on an illuminating, unforgettable journey.
Ayaan captured the world's attention with Infidel, the eye-opening memoir of her childhood in Africa and Saudi Arabia, and her escape to Holland en route to a forced marriage in Canada. Nomad is the story of what happened after the Dutch director with whom she made a documentary about the domestic abuse of Muslim women was murdered by a radical Islamist and death threats forced her into hiding; of her bid to start a new life in America; of her renewed contact with her family on her father's death; and of her attempts to live by her adopted principles. With deep understanding, and through vivid anecdotes, and observations of people, cultures, and the political debacles that are engulfing the world, she takes us with her on an illuminating, unforgettable journey.
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Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy this book. You'll understand a few things.,
By
This review is from: Nomad (Hardcover)
*"Nomad" is easy to read; and it makes many things very clear.*Part 1 describes what happened to the author's relatives. These case histories already make you think a lot and draw a few conclusions. Part 2 recounts how Ayaan left Holland for the United States. Her impressions about that new country are very interesting. Part 3 explains the troubled relationship that many people from her background have with sexuality, money, and violence. Part 4 lays down the solutions she offers. Juicy material. *Particularly touching is her "Letter to my unborn daughter", found towards the end of the book... *If you go to the website of the AHA foundation and click on the link following WHAT DO WE KNOW, you'll access a very complete and informative document. *This book is about undoubtedly one of the major challenges of the century. Buy it.
12 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gender, bucks and violence,
By
This review is from: Nomad (Hardcover)
Ayaan's sequel to Infidel arranges memories, philosophy and activism in elegant measure to explain, warn and inspire. The voyage she describes here leans more to the intellectual than the physical of Infidel while still integrating events since the murder of Theo van Gogh which ultimately brought her to America. The narrative of a farewell visit to her dying father, analyses of her family as microcosm for the whole Muslim world and the medicines she prescribes - the non-allopathic ones in particular - reveal a generous spirit and loving heart.Devoted to the family, Part One deals with the death of her father and her relations with her mother, half-sister, brother and his son, and her cousins. She holds up the history and experiences of several of her relatives to demonstrate the plight of Muslim families, particularly those in the West. Her observations correspond closely to those of Dr Wafa Sultan who grew up in Syria and those of Egyptian-born Nonie Darwish as related in Now They Call Me Infidel and Cruel and Usual Punishment. In the letter to her grandmother she appeals to Somalis and Muslims to admit that the old ways go round in circles now, that new thinking is needed and that progress necessitates giving up some traditions and certainties. Alfred North Whitehead showed why symbolism needs to be constantly adapted and modified by new forms of expression. Worn symbols have to be remolded in accordance with changes in societal structure. Stagnation leads to regression that brings forth toxic fruits like tyranny and the terror of Jihad. But disruptive inversions like the evil trinity of postmodernism, multiculturalism & moral relativism give the same result. The extremes of relativism & absolutism both defile the world with corpses. Born in Somalia, Ayaan lived in Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia as a child and in Kenya as a teenager. She observes that her journey from Africa to the Netherlands and thence to the United States has been a mental trek from tribalism to truth. In an appealing way the reader rediscovers the marvels of America through Ayaan's eyes. Well, the marvels and the multiculturalists for whom she has little patience. She confronts them and the faux feminists with vigor, exposing their hypocrisy and explaining why the postmodernist dream of a magical "mosaic" of cultures is a dangerous delusion. Their perverse agendas create only pockets of abuse, oppression and misery. Standards of behavior apply to all, the author insists. Hirsi Ali identifies fear and self-loathing as the poisons that inactivate some westerners' capacity to differentiate between the rights & dignity of the individual and a blind embrace of a culture which denies that dignity and tramples on those rights. Multiculturalism condemns the children of immigrants to a maze empty of meaning or purpose. Recognizing the sadism hidden in sweet-sounding phrases of postmodernist piety, she correctly diagnoses the mental disorder as a cover for racism. Ayaan identifies gender, buck$ & violence as the main obstacles to the integration of immigrants into Western society. Muslim attitudes to the status of women, education of girls, credit, debt and financial planning weaken people's ability to honor their obligations or avail themselves of opportunity. And blind belief in the inerrancy of the religion's scripture and the literal interpretation thereof draws the flame of violence into minds already made unstable by envy, shame and taboos against the expression of normal needs. Antidotes against these pathologies encompass an overdue revision of gender roles for the emancipation of women so that they may contribute their talents to society. Another treatment would be immersion in Enlightenment values in order to free the captive soul from the harsh absolutism that breeds fatalism, rigid thinking and spiritual morbidity. To the surprise of many and the indignation of some, Ms Hirsi Ali even calls on the churches for help as she considers a religion of love and forgiveness superior to one of fear and guilt. She is quite correct in doing so and this ought not to be viewed as a betrayal of the Enlightenment. By putting compassion first, she places herself within the framework of what Gertrude Himmelfarb termed the Anglo-Saxon Enlightenment. It differed markedly from the Continental which was dominated by French intellectuals' total rejection of religion. Since most human beings need external, timeless referents or at least a sense of purpose and meaning, this sinister strain produced the utopian movements or Secular Salvationist Ideologies that have so severely tormented humanity. The violence of the French Revolution foreshadowed the atrocities of the previous century's murderous collectivisms as well as Islamism and its aforementioned mirror images of today. No ideologue, Ayaan Hirsi Ali yearns to free shackled minds and comfort anguished souls. Her enthusiasm for the Enlightenment does not blind her to the fact that spirituality offers solace and guidance to many and healing to the wounded soul. She evidently recognizes the cynical self-indulgence & cold indifference of those who reject all absolutes. Preserving a free society requires respect for tradition as well as the constant reappraisal and revision of symbolic codes. In this regard, Michael Polanyi's views in Science, Faith And Society are highly instructive. Nomad delivers a treasure trove of insight, compassion and powerful remedies to help heal a hurting world.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nomad,
By
This review is from: Nomad (Hardcover)
This is an excellent read. I was going to recommend it to all women, but I want to widen the scope and suggest women, men and children can learn from this book. Yes, it shows man's inhumanity to man but it also gives the reader a sense of Ayaan's triumph over overwhelming odds. It is also an wonderful celebration of enlightenment. She is a storyteller and her story should be heard.
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